


explain the current

by honeyvoiced



Category: Dynasty (TV 2017)
Genre: Background Fallison, Background Kadam, F/F, Jealousy, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26740501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyvoiced/pseuds/honeyvoiced
Summary: She had been drawn to a slightly artsier, edgier look as of late, and the piece that Kirby had picked was both classy and just heavy enough to piss her grandparents off by not being traditional enough.
Relationships: Kirby Anders/Fallon Carrington
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: Color





	explain the current

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you [Amanda](http://twitter.com/eastsidewidow) for beta-reading as always!
> 
> [This is the necklace](https://www.tiffany.com/jewelry/necklaces-pendants/tiffany-hardwear-freshwater-pearl-link-pendant-in-sterling-silver-1618-64048325/).

When they were fifteen and eleven, respectively, Fallon and Kirby had the first of what would be an admittedly short list of real breakthroughs. They got along fine at least two-thirds of the time, with the majority of their blowups easily being attributed to simply spending too much time right on top of one another, usually fueled by typical pubescent jealousy and annoyance. The evening of Fallon's fifteenth birthday, Blake and Alexis took her for dinner at  _ Nikolai's Roof  _ alone before her party at the manor that night. It would be one of the first events that involved a little less detailed planning, with Fallon insisting on more unsupervised time alone with her friends as they slept in the main living room and had adult discussions like the mature teenagers that they were. 

When she'd returned home, Kirby was waiting for her in the foyer - Fallon had to wonder how long she'd been standing there - rocking on the balls of her feet and clutching a tiny bow-topped box in both hands.

"I wanted to give this to you this morning, but you were up so early," Kirby held out the box before Fallon could even close the heavy door behind herself. It was weird that Anders wasn't there to do it for her, but she guessed that Kirby had asked for him to make himself scarce to avoid any embarrassment. 

"My mom and I had a nail appointment before school," she explained, coming closer and reaching out to take the gift. There was a distinct dropping feeling in her gut when she recognized the iconic shade of blue, but she kept her face neutral. She fought with Kirby enough, sure, but even the most ridiculous and unfair fights that she picked with the younger girl were justifiable, at least to her. Hurting her feelings for no reason, especially when she was trying to do something nice, wasn't Fallon's ideal.  _ Tiffany's _ had a few elegant pieces, but they were expensive, and there were so many misses between the hits that Fallon usually didn't even bother a glance in the window whenever she passed by them in New York.

Now she was about to be straddled with something she'd be either obligated to wear or hurt the other girl's feelings, which wasn't how Fallon wanted to start the year - but she put on a brave face and pulled the lid from the box anyway.

"You didn't have to g- wow."

Kirby rocked nervously again and peered into the box, before glancing up to lock eyes with Fallon again.

"Is it okay? I thought maybe if you had a chain you liked better, you could just take it off - or I could..." 

Fallon let Kirby ramble anxiously as she pulled the silver chain from the box, admiring the single large pearl pendant hanging heavily from its center. It was a little more masculine-looking than anything else she owned, but that only drew her in further. She had been drawn to a slightly artsier, edgier look as of late, and the piece that Kirby had picked was both classy and  _ just  _ heavy enough to piss her grandparents off by not being traditional enough.

“I love this,” she said honestly.

Kirby visibly deflated in relief, before her face broke into a genuine smile.

“Yeah? Okay, good. Because I kept the receipt if you change your mind.”

Fallon’s ears rang at her words; at the implication that this had come out of Kirby’s own money. The weight and color of the chain indicated sterling, and the pearl was clearly one of a kind - it had to have been at least upwards of five hundred dollars, which, while pocket-change for a Carrington, would have made up most of Kirby’s personal savings. Her dad never left her wanting or needing anything, but she was still responsible for setting her own rainy day money aside.

Holding the empty box out for the other girl to take, Fallon reached back and unhooked the necklace she was already wearing, and set it haphazardly into the box before pulling on the new piece that Kirby had given her instead.

“You really didn’t have to do this,” she told her. Shifting to look over her shoulder in the massive mirror mounted to the wall behind her, Fallon studied her reflection and admired the way the piece sat, gleaming brightly even in the low lighting of the foyer.

“Sure I did,” Kirby replied, turning around so that they were looking at each other through the mirror, instead. “Here,” she held the box out, but Fallon waved it away.

“I never keep the box.”

Looking down at it in her hands, Kirby was quiet for a moment. Fallon could tell that she was glad she could keep it, instead, but didn’t mock her for it. 

“Well, here.” After a moment, Kirby held the other necklace out - a simple thin gold chain with a single flat bar in place of a pendant, and as Fallon turned to take it back, she paused, then pursed her lips.

“I think I’m actually over my gold moment,” she lied. The necklace was cheap, anyway - basically a filler piece for when she just needed something basic to take up space on an outfit. “You can hang onto it if you want.”

She wasn’t sure why she was doing it - maybe a small part of her felt a little guilty for the other girl spending so much money on her and knowing that she still wasn’t going to invite her to hang out with her and her friends that night - but the look of sheer, barely-withheld excitement on the redhead’s face was encouragement enough. It was nice to tell herself that she was doing a kind thing, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her head that reminded her that everything she did - especially for Kirby - was just to keep her held still under her thumb.

“Thank you, Fallon.”

Shrugging, Fallon shot her a quick, stiff smile and then turned away to head past her. 

“I have to get ready for tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

"Right," Kirby cleared her throat and carefully tucked the necklace back into the box, closing the lid and tucking it into her pocket. "Um... have fun."

"We will," Fallon assured her, reaching for the railing and starting up the stairs. Feeling the comfortable weight of her new jewelry against her sternum, she smiled to herself and began to preemptively picture the outfits she would be able to build around it.

* * *

"Everyone seems so excited." Fallon whirled around so quickly that she nearly sloshed her champagne onto the freshly-waxed hardwood floors of the loft overlooking the foyer. 

Allison quirked an eyebrow and stepped back.

"Did I startle you?"

"I was just sort of zoned out, sorry." Taking the last sip from the flute in her hand, Fallon set it aside and then reached for one of the two glasses that Allison had brought. "But I think you're right - except I think that everyone here is just excited to finally get to attend a Carrington wedding that isn't just another one of Blake's."

Chuckling, Allison stepped closer and peered over the railing to follow her gaze. Kirby, oblivious below, moved seamlessly from person to person as they came and went, shaking hands and bantering with everyone who took a moment to speak with her. She had always been radiant-on-demand - it was something Fallon had admired the most about her - but she'd come out of her shell even more in the last couple of years. It was so wonderful to watch that Fallon couldn't even feel jealous of the fact that she didn't get to keep her caged up and to herself at all times - that had been growth on her part over the last couple of years, too, not that she'd had much choice. 

Earlier, when it was just the two of them alone in Fallon's closet, digging through dresses, she'd been much less elegant, but had wrapped that up into herself the same way she did with the silky pale blue number that Fallon had ultimately decided on lending to her. 

_ "This'll look good - hey, maybe it can count as the 'something blue' so the wedding color scheme doesn't get messed up." _

_ "Fallon, you know that doesn't count. Am I going to be putting up with your micromanaging forever?" _

_ "You should be so lucky." _

Allison’s words snapped Fallon out of her train of thought once again: “She looks beautiful.”

Fallon trailed Kirby with her eyes, watching her head toward the stairs that led up to the pair of them. Excitement bubbled in her stomach but she ignored it, trying to keep the giddy grin from her face. Still, after years, it felt like a brand-new crush.

“Hey,” The woman approached them with a breathless grin, adjusting one of the straps of the dress and then reaching back to undo the antique bone clip from her hair. Red hair fell loosely around her shoulders in half-curled tendrils, and Fallon took a long sip from her drink to avoid thinking too hard about reaching out to finger-comb it into place for her. “What’re you two doing up here all alone?”

“That shouldn’t be your concern,  _ Miss Anders _ , you have guests to entertain,” Fallon raised an eyebrow, catching Kirby’s eye and then smirking into her glass before lowering it.

“You’re going to wear that name out before the night ends,” Kirby mused.

“Well, you won’t need it much longer,” Allison pointed out, tipping her glass at the taller woman in gesture. “This time tomorrow it’ll be  _ Mrs. Carrington _ .” 

"That's true," Kirby nodded slowly, reaching out and wordlessly taking Fallon's flute from her hand to take a long, thirsty sip. "I never did thank you properly for convincing me to change it."

"There'll be plenty of time to thank me later," Fallon dismissed, waving a hand. The implication of her words felt like it hung heavily in the air for a moment, but neither Kirby nor Allison seemed to notice or react. "That's a cute dress, where'd you get it?"

" _ Ha-ha _ ," Kirby replied sarcastically. "I thought about what you said, about  _ something blue _ ? I agree, this should count. Does that mean it’s my  _ something borrowed _ too?"

Lighting up, Fallon shook her head, grabbing her clutch and popping it open quickly.

"Actually, I have that taken care of."

The redhead leaned in, trying to peer into her bag impatiently, but Fallon kept the tiny velvet pouch in her hand as obscured as possible before pulling out the silver chain and holding it out.

"Ooh," Kirby cooed, pulling the piece closer and turning it over in her hand admiringly before recognition washed over her features and she gasped. "Oh, I remember this!"

Allison peered at it curiously, too, and Fallon felt her cheeks heat up.

“You really kept this? You know it was only like, six hundred dollars, right?”

“Who cares?” Fallon asked, ignoring the looks from both other women that clearly said  _ she  _ would have, usually. 

“I got this for her for like, her fifteenth birthday or something,” Kirby explained, handing the necklace to Allison before shooting Fallon a surprisingly soft look.

“It’s beautiful,” Allison replied, with some sort of thickness to her tone that Fallon couldn’t quite place. The piece looked out of place in her hands - a thought that Fallon felt immediately guilty about - so she reached out and gently took it back from her.

“Here,” she gestured at Kirby, who quickly set the champagne flute she’d taken from Fallon at her feet and turning her back to them. Gathering her hair up into her hands and pulling it aside, her breath audibly caught when Fallon brushed the few remaining strands away with feather-light fingers.

Pressing her chest to her back momentarily as she reached around her, Fallon hovered in place momentarily before leaning back enough to do up the delicate clasp behind her neck. 

It was almost perverse, having Allison standing so close by and watching her every move, but in a stifling sort of way, it was almost reassuring. She wasn’t going to do anything to hurt her - that was what she’d been telling herself since day one - but sometimes she wasn’t sure. At the engagement party, like the psychotic freak that he was, Adam had stood by her side at the rooftop railing at  _ The High Note  _ bar and told her that the real fear associated with open heights like that one wasn’t the concern about falling - it was the worry that the person would be hit with the compulsive, intrusive urge to jump and then actually do it. 

“Perfect,” Fallon breathed, finishing with the clasp and stepping back to let the redhead turn around. Kirby dropped her hair, glancing down and smiling.

“Looks okay?” 

Fallon’s eyes dropped to her chest before she quickly averted her gaze, glancing at Allison instead. Nervous guilt surged over her when she saw that the other woman was already looking at her, ready for her reaction.

“It’s uh - yeah. It suits you.”

“Thank you.” Kirby beamed before something over Fallon’s shoulder caught her eye. 

Before she could turn around she heard him -  _ felt  _ him, really; Adam’s voice filled her ear, too close for comfort, and she winced dramatically before she could help herself.

“Mind if I borrow my fiancee?”

Sidestepping away from her brother and not bothering to mask her disgust, Fallon gestured vaguely at the redhead and then rolled her eyes to stare at the ornate ceiling tiles instead of the sight of them kissing in greeting.

“I need another drink,” she insisted, blindly reaching for Allison’s hand to pull her away.

“Right - we’ll catch up later,” the other woman told Kirby, following after Fallon and nearly slipping on the floors as she hurried to keep up.

Ignoring the pounding in her ears, Fallon headed to the stairs.

“It’s weird,” Allison told her, letting go of her hand to grab the railing instead for balance. “I thought you said that you kept that necklace for sentimental reasons.”

“I did,” Fallon replied, hearing the hint of suspicious interrogation in the other woman’s tone.

“ _ Right _ ,” Allison hummed. “I thought you said it belonged to an ex or something.”

“No,” Fallon replied shortly, speeding up to keep a full step of distance between them. “That isn’t what I said.”

“Well, it’s pretty, either way. Goes nicely with that dress.”

“Yeah,” Fallon huffed as dismissively as possible as they stepped off the staircase. She swiped them another two flutes from a passing server’s tray, then whirled around to face Allison and held one out to her in distraction.

Before either of them could say anything else, the clinking of something heavy against a glass drew the entire room’s attention up to the loft again, and Fallon resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the sight of Kirby and Adam against the railing, with his arm slung around her waist. She was staring at him with all of the admiration and adoration that Fallon was used to being on the receiving end of - even if only in a platonic way - but the look still wasn’t foreign. 

It was a little thrilling that she was dressed almost head-to-toe in pieces that belonged to Fallon; the dress and the necklace seeming like a brighter and more enticing outfit than anyone else in the manor was wearing; she was wrapped up in Adam, but still, in another way, wrapped up in Fallon.

“Thank you all for being here,” Adam’s voice cut through the leftover murmurs of the crowd. “We can’t tell you how thrilled we are to have you here this weekend, to celebrate with us.”


End file.
